Maya Tutorial 02 - Ray-Gun

The completed Maya Ray-gun tutorial.

Animation - Adobe Animate - Session 2

It is very important in Animation to get timing, spacing, easing in and easing out correct, below you can see animation of examples of these practices I created during today's session. 

Here is a simple example of spacing and timing, both dots start and end at the same time. The upper dot is spaced evenly throughout its movement cycle, the lower dot eases in and out to represent an increase in speed as it moves, this is more accurate because we now perceive the dot to possess weight and momentum.

This is an example of an incorrect arcing pendulum, the dot is on a flat axis which means the string changes length throughout the animating, to correct this we need to produce an arc in the dot.

Now that we have the dot in an arc it fools us into believing the string remains the same length, however the dot possesses no momentum so we will now try to fix it.

Finally we have a finished pendulum, the arc of the dot is believable and the ease in and ease out fools us into believing we have weight and momentum on the dot. It is important to remember that what I animate requires weight to be realistic. 

Maya Tutorial 01 - Egg Cups

The finished product of the egg cups tutorial.

Digital Painting - Line, Brush, Lasso and Collage - Leonia

1-4 line art, 5-8 with the use of a brush, 9-12 with the use of a brush and lasso, 13- 16  collage.

This is thumbnail work from the city of Leonia as depicted by Italo Calvino in Invisible Cities. There is a high contrast between the brand new city and the products it expels.  

Life Drawing - Session 2

This is the second lesson of life drawing. For the first image I used a graphic pencil, I tried to work on the face more because I didn't try much in this area last time, I like the result but next time I'll try with an eraser to help accentuate light.  

The second task was to do more quick poses between 5 and 2 minutes. I used a red pastel, the focus was more on the center line, where the weigh was gravitating in the pose.  

Finally the use of black paper encouraged experimentation with trying to work negatively, it was difficult working with a black charcoal into the white pastel, an eraser may prove to be more effective. Next time I will try to work more on on just creating light rather than form. 

Animation - Adobe Animate - Session 1

The finished morphing Animation, it consists of my Face turning into a Cornetto, then into a Pig, then back into my face. I used a brush with 75 degrees of smoothing to help keep the lines slick.

Maya Toolkit - Trolley Tutorial

This is the result of the trolley tutorial in Autodesk Maya.

Invisible Cities - Fedora - Notes and Drawings

 This is my notes and concept thumbnails from the city of Fedora as depicted by Italo Calvino, the city is described as a grey stone metropolis, I've used a grey colour scheme to set the mood.

Life Drawing - Session 1

This is the product of the first life drawing session, we began with a twenty minute pose, I need to improve on getting correct proportions and to be less shy about faces, the tutor mentioned about not doing an outline, work with a flow so I always have somewhere to go and if I needed to extend there was the ability to, I took this into account during the second set of drawings, there are eight consecutive drawings ranging from five to three minute poses. I felt a little more limbered up after these and was pleased with how carefree it felt when drawing, I liked the shading on the top left and the centre poses.

 Finally we moved on to another twenty minute pose, the neck, collar and shoulder were fine but I could improve on shape elsewhere, like the right arm for instance, I will look at more perspective life models and drawings for insight. Once again I backed away from the face as it's not an area I felt comfortable in, next time I will focus more on faces.  

Invisible Cities - Esmeralda - Notes and Drawings

 This post contains my research notes on the City Esmeralda as depicted by Italo Calvino as well as some preliminary drawings. 

I'm trying to capture the grand scale of concrete and brick used in creating a city in this way, as much as i try to make it my own, venetian canals and roman aqueducts snuck into the back of my mind.    

Invisible Cities - Ersilia - Notes and Drawings

This post contains my descriptive notes from the city of Ersilia as depicted by Italo Calvino as well as a few preliminary drawings. 

 Much of my drawings revolve around the fact I have deducted the inhabitants of Ersilia are nomadic, which would mean they need structures which can be uprooted with relative ease. Tents made from hides and sting from wool seem the most realistic of assumptions. 

Film Review - The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) by Robert Wiene

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari by Robert Wiene made in 1920 is a silent movie set in the German town of Holstenwall. The movie opens with a few moments of dialog from the main character Francis (Frederich Feher) to a stranger giving the viewer an eerie glimpse into the future of what is to come, this is the first instance of when the set is used in relation to the stability of the human mind as there is no distortion or misleading perspectives, possibly one of the only places the viewer can feel truely safe, from this we find ourselves in the lamentations of the main character as he recants his story. It begins with an innocent invitation to the fair from Francis to his friend Alan (Hans Heinz von twardowski), where we also see for the first time the town on the horizon. Dr Caligari (Werner Krauss) presents a sideshow act at the event Cesare (conrad Veidt) as the Somnambulist. During the performance Dr Caligari wakes the man from a sleep he claims has lasted 23 years and that he knows all that was and all that will be, to answer any question presented by the audience. Alan boldly steps up and asks "When will I die?" to which the Somnambulist chillingly replies "At first dawn!". Afterwards Francis and Alan meet Jane (Lil Dagover) who they are both in the process of courting.

 By Morning Alan is dead from an obscurely shaped blade and the Plot throws suspicion at the somnambulist, however the next night a man is caught in the act of a murder with a similar weapon in the hopes of using the previous murderer as a cover. Suspicion is briefly cast aside from Cesare so Francis follows Dr Caligari back to his trailer and spends the night watching him and Cesare from the window as they sleep. During this time Jane is stolen by the somnambulist and it turns out Francis was duped by a dummy. Dr Caligari flees to an Asylum for the Mentally Ill where he is revealed as the Director. Francis tells the orderlies of the situation in the Asylum atrium the second scene where perspectives are completely correct, and they proceed to search the office for information. They stumble across an old book of the original Dr Caligari who ran a scan in Northern Italy with a Somnambulist, and the Directors diary where he mentions trying out the experiment of suggestive persuasion on the sleeping mind to the point of getting the individual to committ murder something they wouldnt do whilst awake. Dr Caligari is confronted with the somnambulists sleeping form and questioned but restrained in a straight-jacket when as he lunges for members of the crowd in a manic outburst. Later francis is wandering the Atrium with a sense of relief, the scene is populated with people depicting various mental health conditions and vacant stares. There is a touching and yet heartbreaking moment where Francis says "Jane, I love you - When will you marry me?" to which Jane replies "We who are of noble blood may not follow the wishes of our hearts". Francis then spies the somnambulist standing in the atrium, creating a theatrical panic, then as if by amazing coincidence the Director, who looks like a well presented Dr Caligari steps through the set talking to other doctors. Mad with rage Francis jumps at him and is required to be restrained in a straight-jacket, he exclaims at the top of his lungs that this man is Dr Caligari. Then finally the Director denotes towards the camera that he now knows how to cure this man of his mental illness thickening the plot to its final crescendo. The final scene is more of a prologue to the film in some respects, the segment has almost been swapped with the opening scene in an effort to create suspense and mystery, then to create clarity. 

The set is designed with sharp angles and distortions to force the wrong perspective on the viewer, to forward plot mystery and to address the underlying mental health of Francis and as we now know we are seeing the entire film though the mind of a mentally ill individual which is mirrored in the character, the set and scenery presents no living thing except actors. Backdrops are hand painted and at harsh angles giving no perspective, shadows are painted in contradiction to natural light and coloured filters are used to simulate different environments. the set was designed to make sire there was a continuous state of unrest in the characters and an element of mistrust and suspicion in the viewer persuading us that we can't trust or distrust what our eyes tell us about the situation. It is interesting how Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann and Walter Roehrig designed the sets for the Asylum with good perspective and sanity but created the town and fair with no perspectives and wrong angles, the thought that the only place which is safe and trust worthy in this world is the place where mentally ill people are taken care of is a completely backwards idea, where the town and the otherwise sane people who populate the town are living in a world which is warped.         

Invisible Cities - Influence Mapping - Armilla

My first influence maps for the City of Armilla depicted by Italo Calvino. This is only a scratch at how this city felt and looks like in my mind but it goes a way to explaining a basis of how to begin.

Digital Painting - Master Class 01

Monday morning marked the first day of digital painting. I have never given this a try before but I'm pleased with the techniques practiced in the class. We were tasked with focusing on creating blocks of colour and working out how different parts of the scene occupied the space. later we moved on to an exercise which helped me to differentiate colours and to really focus on retraining my brain to see whats really there instead of what i think is there.  

Finally we were given the opportunity to paint from eye alone, creating swatches on the canvas by blending our own colours. My final painting isn't as resolved as the previous two but my opinion is I have gained enough practice in the technique to move on.

Invisible Cities - Diomira - Notes and Drawings

 This post contains my research notes and drawings from the third city depicted by Italo Calvino, the city of Diomira. I've noticed a darker side to this city which I'm particularly interested in expressing and developing. Ive provided my initial thoughts.  

My drawings are reminiscent of the Angler fish, which used a bio-luminescent light to lure smaller fish into its jaws.  

This is my first attempt at Digital Painting in Photoshop. Here are 9 more Thumbnails for the city of Diomira.

Invisible Cities - Baucis - Notes and Drawings

This post gives my research notes and preliminary drawings for the second city depicted by Italo Calvino, the city of Baucis. The city is stood atop thin stilts where all the inhabitants needs are managed and met. Their main quirk seems to be that they marvel at the Earth with telescopes. this would suggest they are interstellar beings that are visitors to the planet. 

 My initial drawings focus on the gravity of their situation, the scale of production and the fascination they experience with the planet.  

Invisible Cities - Armilla - Notes and Drawings

This post provides my initial research notes on descriptive information for the first city presented by Italo Calvino, the city of Armilla. I have also provided a few preliminary drawings to visualize my initial thoughts on its appearance. 

 The images depict bathtubs, taps and showers protruding from pipes, as well as an abundance of plant life beginning to work its way into the setting. 

@Phil Embedding Practice

This post is simply to practice retrieving and embedding a video from either Youtube or Vimeo and a PDF file from Scribd. The video is of one of my foundation animations as I wasn't entirely sure what I should display. It practices the techniques of 'Flipbook' by William Kentridge.  

The Document i have found from Scribd appears to be about sandwiches and how to enjoy them. 

Enjoy Every Sandwich by Lee Lipsenthal, M.D. -- Excerpt by Crown Publishing Group on Scribd

Light Boy

Expandable House

Furnace Spider